


population: zero

by boosol98



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Capslock, Death, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Why do I do this, there isn't even a proper plot for this its just depressing i'm so sorry, this is not a happy fic, writing this made me soooo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-20 20:39:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16562762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boosol98/pseuds/boosol98
Summary: we all fall down.end of the world! AU (doyoung/taeyong)





	population: zero

**Author's Note:**

> doomsday- murray gold

_the world isn’t over,_  
_we can always start over._  
_no weight on our shoulders,_  
_the world isn’t over, darling._

part one. 

_remember me. remember me. remember me._

tick, 

_one, two, three._  
_count with me._  
_three,_  
_two,_  
_one._

tock. 

__________________

the world was dark, and the skies were grey. like always. 

year 2018, the sun stopped shining. not completely, of course, otherwise everyone would have died a lot quicker. but it did decrease in brightness drastically, and no one knew why. scientists tried. came up with hundreds of theories, millions of possibilities, but human knowledge had its limits. an existence too minuscule to even begin to try and answer the mysteries of the universe. 

so humanity just sat there. took a backseat and watched the beginning of the end of the world. 

**population: 7 billion.**

year 2020, earth’s temperature dropped to 150K. -23.15 degrees celsius. summer didn’t exist anymore, neither did fall or spring. “the rise of the eternal winter”, people said. 

the elderly and the children were, of course, the first to take in the true effects of what was happening. children would see snow and sneak out at night to play around with it. but the temperatures dropped fast. and sometimes, they would stay outside for much too long. 

the government implanted a rule then. no leaving your houses at all unless to pick up packages of food, water, and necessities left by delivery drones. 

trees? gone. grass? gone. wildlife? gone. 

**population: 8 million.**

year 2022, the world was an igloo. in the literal sense. 

the clock was clicking, and the remainder of humanity could all feel it. 

at this point, if you stepped outside without proper protection for even for a millisecond of a millisecond, you would be dead. 

the world was starting it’s final countdown. 

**population: 200,000.**

year 2023.  
seoul, south korea. 

doyoung and taeyong were childhood friends. if you could call it that. they met without a choice, forced by their parents who were best friends in high school to talk to each other as an attempt to form the same kind of relationship. 

needless to say, it was a rough start. 

doyoung was pushy, taeyong was stubborn. doyoung lived life carefree, taeyong lived life through order and precision. doyoung didn’t care, taeyong cared too much. they were two sides of a magnet, as opposite as opposites could be.

they fought all the time, much to the chagrin of their parents. it was always this or that, push or pull. the relationship they had was not a pleasant one. 

but, over time, as the seasons changed and they both grew up, and, they formed something similar to a friendship. given, it was still a weird friendship, but one nonetheless. doyoung lived in the apartment above taeyong, so he would constantly be climbing out his own window to jump onto taeyong’s balcony. the first few times he did it taeyong refused to let him in. doyoung would find new things to throw or bang on his window every day, but taeyong just smirked and let him be. after a while, though, taeyong found himself getting bored, and figured that even if he did dislike doyoung he could still bring him some excitement to his life. so he let him in. 

once they started getting more comfortable with each other’s presence they would play games, argue, eat junk food, talk about girls. everything normal teenagers do, but always with that extra weird tension in the air that neither knew how to dissipate. 

as they both grew into young adults, and their lives became more occupied, the two stopped seeing each other as much. doyoung stopped jumping onto taeyong’s balcony, and they both lived their separate lives. perhaps, if you asked doyoung back then during his most vulnerable state, he would say he missed taeyong. and perhaps, if you asked taeyong back when he was having the worst breakdown of his life, he would say he missed doyoung. perhaps. 

4 years ago, a year after the sun decided to start dying, taeyong found doyoung on his balcony, tear streaks on his face and a worn out bag in his hand. he looked so fragile taeyong was worried he would break at the slightest touch. he let him in, much like the way he let him in the first time all those years ago. 

it turns out that doyoung’s parents died in 2015 in a car accident. taeyong wondered why his parents never told him. doyoung’s grandmother moved into his apartment to act as his guardian instead, even though he technically didn’t need it as he was already an adult. not that he ever complained. 

then, a few months after the beginning of the end, his grandmother disappeared. didn’t leave any notes, any signs, any warning. just disappeared. doyoung spent the next few weeks trying to find her, but with the world literally self-destructing right in front of you, it was hard. at the beginning of 2019, he stopped trying. 

taeyong learned that doyoung holed himself up in his apartment for the next 5 months, drinking only once in a while and eating even less. multiple times, he thought about ending his life, but he never actually took action to do it. taeyong, ignoring the pang he felt in his chest after that, asked why doyoung only came to him now. doyoung didn’t answer. 

and so, just like that, the two started living together. it was quiet at first, the only sounds being the drones coming to their door every 2 weeks to bring supplies, and the low hum of the earth. slowly, however, given their situation, things got boring quickly and soon they didn’t have any option left but to simply talk to each other. and so they did. the tension was still there, of course, it never left, but maybe, just maybe, things between the two went back to the way they were before. 

life went on. 

 

part two. 

_honey, if the world ends tomorrow, let me kiss your lips and break your heart._

year 2024.  
seoul, south korea. 

taeyong woke up to find doyoung already awake, sitting at the couch facing their window. he approached him quietly. 

“hey,” taeyong mumbled out, holding an old cup of coffee in his hands. “sleep well?” 

doyoung let out an empty chuckle. “taeyong, when was the last time either of us got a proper night of sleep? nah, i just came here to think.” 

taeyong hummed. “think about what?” 

it was silent for a while. 

“you realize the world will be over soon, right? the drone has already missed a few weeks of supplies, and we’re going to run out of food and water soon. every day i wake, there’s a new coat of ice on the buildings outside. it’s almost completely pitch black outside all the time too. it’s coming, taeyong, and the thing is, i don’t care. about death, at least. but more and more i’ve been thinking about all the things i haven’t done, all the things i can’t even do now because we’re stuck here. maybe i just want to have a life again, you know? for a day. just a day.” doyoung leaned back into the couch even further, to the point taeyong could barely see him in the low lighting of the room. after a while, he responds. 

“let’s do it then.”

“huh?”

“let’s have a day where we actually live. i know we’re limited to doing things in this apartment, but that doesn’t mean we can’t think of something fun. hell, if the world’s ending tomorrow, we can tear the entire place down if you’d want.” taeyong looked over at doyoung, who was now sitting a bit more upright, but still out of sight. 

doyoung scrunched his eyebrows together. “that’s bullshit, but alright. we can try.” 

the truth of the matter is, taeyong figured out what the tension between them was years ago. only someone as stubborn and oblivious as doyoung wouldn’t be able to figure it out. but taeyong never acted upon it, partly because he didn’t want to, partly because doyoung never showed any hint that he felt the same way too. besides, taeyong knew if he fully accepted his feelings, it would lead to his downfall. it was his worst weakness. he felt too much. 

but taeyong did love doyoung. he loved him so much, enough that it physically hurt sometimes. and even now, with the clock nearing its final days before the actual end of the world, the feelings never wavered a single bit. he wanted to do something for him at least. give him as much of the concept of happiness as he could before it was whisked away forever. 

 

and so, in the darkness of the city, of the world, of their small apartment room, they drank, they danced, they sang. and as it turns out, doyoung did want to destroy things. their chairs, their couches, the TV, their bed. taeyong watched as doyoung ripped them all apart. taeyong watched as doyoung screamed. taeyong watched as doyoung fell to his knees, heaving, crying tears that never fell out. 

taeyong walked over to where doyoung was, made him stand up, and held him tightly in his arms, listening to him whisper “it’s not fair” over and over again. taeyong held him for a long time. 

the world continued to grow black.

hours before it happened, both taeyong and doyoung could feel it. they looked at each other, doyoung pursed his lips, and they both made their way to their living room. 

at this point, the building they were in no longer protected against the stinging coldness of the outside world. taeyong and doyoung, although both dressed up in thick winter jackets and all the blankets they owned wrapped around both of them, knew it wasn’t going to be long before both the cold and the darkness engulfed them. 

the clock had started its final hour. 

they both sat next to each other huddled up under the blankets for a while before doyoung spoke up, in a voice so quiet taeyong had to strain his ears to hear. 

“hey, taeyong?” he mumbled out. 

“yeah?” 

“i love you.” 

if this had happened in another timeline, another universe, taeyong would have rejoiced. but it wasn’t. this was their reality: a world so broken it was begging to be let free. 

“i love you too. i’ll love you forever.” 

___________________

this is how the world ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. 

their world didn’t end with a bang. it didn’t end with a whimper, either. it ended with the crackling sound of ice, darkness, the faint sound of music coming from their old cd player and doyoung’s head on taeyong’s shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> a short warmup piece before i write my actual fic... really did Not mean for it to be this depressing i am soo sorry


End file.
